Penn State rallies for alleged sex abuse victims

November 11, 2011|By John L. Micek, Matt Assad and Daniel Patrick Sheehan, Of The Morning Call

STATE COLLEGE — Thousands of students cupping candles in their hands in the chill night gathered in front of Penn State University's Old Main on Friday to show their support for the alleged sexual abuse victims of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

One of the students, Megan Furchner, 21, of New Tripoli said she was there "to show them that we do care."

"It's not about football," she said. "We understand what's going on. We're really upset. We're tired of the negative publicity. We should be showing [the university] in a positive light."

Standing next to her was Maryam Movahedi, 22, a student from State College, who complained about the media coverage of the riots that broke out Wednesday night after the board of trustees fired coach Joe Paterno.

"I'm really ashamed of the people who would do this," she said of the rioters.

Her friend Blair Porterfield, 21, another student from State College, continued for her: "This may be a huge university, but it's still a small town. The university has done great things. I'm here because it has the No. 3 astrophysics program in the country. This one blemish is not indicative of the university."

The crowd swelled as students, alumni and local residents huddled against the cold, the university's Blue Band played and the clock ticked nearer the start of the 9:30 p.m. vigil.

They heard from a series of speakers, including a young man who identified himself as a 2007 alumnus.

His voice breaking, he told the crowd, "We are Penn State, and we are hurting and we are sorry. But the only thing that matters is that we are here for [the alleged victims].

LaVar Arrington, a former Penn State football star, said the past week's events were "a call to duty."

"This is a challenge to all of us," he said. "The biggest crime we can commit is to leave here and forget what happened."

He added later, "The challenge has been issued. Now let it be known that we waged war at Penn State to make a difference."

The vigil was held as the focus of the Sandusky scandal shifted, in part, to the young alleged victims.

On Friday, the mother of one spoke publicly for the first time, a group of alumni began raising money for an abuse victims network and fans going to Saturday's home game against Nebraska were asked to wear special T-shirts, the proceeds of which will benefit another victims group.

Penn State trustees were right to fire Paterno for not telling police in 2002 that his former assistant had been accused of child sex abuse, the mother told ABC's "Good Morning America."

A grand jury report says the woman's son, called Victim 1, met Sandusky three years later through his Second Mile charity for at-risk children.

"If he had any inclination of this, he may have done what he legally needed to do, but there's got to be some moral bearing, in my opinion," said the mother, who was not identified.

"The people that hid this need to pay for their actions. They allowed this to happen to a lot of kids," she said.

Sandusky was charged last Saturday with sexually abusing eight boys over 15 years, and former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley and former finance official Gary Schultz were charged with failing to report an incident. Sandusky, Curley and Schultz have all denied the charges.

According to the grand jury report, Sandusky, over a four-year period, took Victim 1 to sporting events and showered him with gifts to win a trust that eventually had the boy frequently sleeping at Sandusky's home. It was during those sleepovers in Sandusky's basement bedroom that he allegedly had oral sex with the boy more than 20 times.

The boy tried to distance himself from Sandusky when he became a freshman in high school, but hid the abuse from his mother, explaining: "I didn't know what to do ... you just can't tell Jerry no."

But she said he is "doing OK" and felt a sense of relief when Sandusky was charged.

As the mother spoke, a group of alumni started a movement — #ProudPSUforRAINN — to support victims of abuse by contributing to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. In a statement, campaign organizers Jerry and Jaime Needel, Bob Troia and Larena Lettow said they aim to raise a dollar for each of Penn State's 557,000 alumni.

Meanwhile, fans are being asked to participate in a "Blue Out" for Saturday's game . They're being encouraged to buy and wear blue T-shirts that say "Stop Child Abuse, Blue Out Nebraska."

It's a twist on the "White Out," a tradition in which fans wear white to certain home games. Proceeds from the sale of the $9.99 shirts will go to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.